Benjamin looked at her and smiled. “I’ll have a little of everything, especially the ribs. They look extra good tonight.”
Harper joined the line. Her granddad was right. The spicy smell of the ribs was making her tummy rumble. Combined with hot potatoes, cobs of sweet corn, and fresh garden salad, it was a meal everyone would enjoy.
Owen’s eyes lit up when they met hers. “Hey, Harper. How was your day?” he asked as he dished out a generous helping of ribs onto her plate.
“It was busy at the clinic,” Harper replied, accepting the plate with a smile and handing him another one for her granddad. “How about you?”
“I started some new designs,” Owen told her. “And Steve hasn’t stopped talking about a new woodworking technique he’s trying out.”
Steve chuckled. “Owen’s thinking about new ways he can display what he makes.” He handed Owen a plate. “Why don’t you have dinner with Harper? I can serve the ribs.”
Owen looked at the almost full room. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. It looks as though most people are already here. I’ll join you after we’ve served the last meal.”
Harper waited for Owen to add some ribs and potatoes to his plate before moving to the salad area. “Do you enjoy helping with the Friday night dinners?”
“I do. Usually, I work in the kitchen preparing the vegetables and making sure the dishes are clean, but Mabel was short a server.” Owen added some salad to Harper’s plates. “It’s great seeing your granddad so happy,” he remarked, motioning toward Benjamin. He was smiling and nodding at something another person was saying.
“He loves coming to these dinners,” Harper said. As they settled down at the table with Benjamin and Patrick, the conversation flowed comfortably, the sense of community soaking into Harper and making her glad she was here.
In between bites of his meal, Benjamin leaned over to her. “I almost forgot to tell you; a letter arrived for you today.” Reaching into his pocket, he handed it to her. “I meant to give it to you before we left home.”
Harper’s heart skipped a beat when she looked at the envelope. The return address was from the hospital she’d worked at in New York City. She hadn’t expected to hear from them, and seeing their name brought back a flood of memories.
With trembling hands, she opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper. The letter was from a nurse she’d worked with in the Intensive Care Unit. They’d become friends and called each other every couple of months to see how they were doing.
It was great knowing everything was okay at the hospital, but Harper was surprised Ellie had sent her the letter.
Owen leaned closer. “Are you all right?”
Taking a deep breath, she looked into his worried eyes. “I worked with a nurse named Ellie in the ICU for a few years. A patient I looked after during the COVID-19 pandemic wants to see me.”
“Do they know you’ve moved to Montana?”
Harper shook her head. “Ellie hasn’t said anything to him, but Henry was special. We cared for him during the worst days of the pandemic.” Henry’s struggle had been severe. She told Owen that within a day of contracting COVID-19 he was gasping for air, his body succumbing to the merciless grip of the virus. With no other options left, the doctors placed him on a ventilator. At that stage, nine out of ten patients in the same situation were dying. “He nearly didn’t make it,” she whispered, the memories becoming too real.
Owen’s hand rested on her arm. “It must’ve felt wonderful when he survived.”
Harper nodded. “It was the miracle we all needed. I remember the day he could finally open his eyes and squeeze my fingers. It felt like we’d won the biggest lottery.”
“Will you contact him?” he asked, his eyes searching hers for an answer.
Harper was silent for a moment, lost in the past. The idea of reopening that chapter of her life, of revisiting those harrowing days, was daunting. But there was also a pull, a desire to reconnect with someone who’d given her and her colleagues so much hope in a time of despair.
“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I’d like to know how he’s doing, but another part of me wants to leave that part of my life alone.”
Her granddad sent her a sad smile. “Things like that will never leave you alone, sweetheart. What you learned about yourself and the people around you will be with you forever. Find the good in what you did and hold on to that.”
Harper thought about her granddad’s life and the grief that had touched him in ways she could only try to understand. Carefully, she slid the note back into the envelope. If her granddad could find joy after everything that had happened, so could she. And Henry was one of the few bright spots in three years of heartbreaking grief.
“I’ll call Ellie tomorrow and get Henry’s phone number,” she told her granddad and Owen.
Benjamin patted her hand. “That’s my girl.”
When Harper looked at Owen, he sent her a reassuring smile. “If I was in Henry’s shoes, I’d do the same thing. You saved his life and that’s something to celebrate.”
Benjamin cleared his throat. “And so is Kathleen’s huckleberry crumble.”
